Williams through to quarter-finals in Australia

World number one Mark Williams booked his place in the quarter-finals of the inaugural Australian Snooker Goldfields Open with a comfortable win over David Gilbert at Bendigo Stadium today.

Williams, who posted what he called an "awful, appalling" 5-2 win over Barry Pinches yesterday, triumphed by the same scoreline against Englishman Gilbert today but was much happier with his overall performance.

"It was a lot better today and I knew if I played like I did yesterday then I was going to get beaten," Williams, who enjoyed breaks of 78 and 83 in a strong potting display, told www.worldsnooker.com.

"I did a few different things just to get some momentum and it worked so I will keep doing it."

Next up for Williams is a last-eight encounter with either fellow Welshman Dominic Dale or 2010 world champion and home favourite Neil Robertson.

"I would probably prefer to play Neil as there would be a big crowd," said Williams.

"All of the support would be on his side and I can handle that. It would be a good occasion to play in front of his home crowd."

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen also made it into the last eight with a one-sided 5-1 win over Scotland's Marcus Campbell.

Allen amassed breaks of 101, 71, 100, 63 and 67 on his way to a comprehensive win, although he felt the result was tough on his opponent.

"The scoreline was 5-1 but that flattered me," said Allen.

"I played well but in the early part Marcus was dominating. He had a bad run of balls but at the time he wasn't giving me a look in.

"You don't need much to go wrong to lose the match and I said to Marcus afterwards that he had the worst run of luck I've seen someone have against me."

Allen's next opponent is Englishman Stuart Bingham, who swept to a 5-0 demolition of compatriot Tom Ford.

After getting the better of a scrappy opener, Bingham hit his straps in the second with a break of 94. Two half-centuries followed before another assured 94 put the match to bed.

In another all-English encounter, Mark Selby scrapped for a 5-3 win over Mark Davis to book a quarter-final meeting with either Liang Wenbo or Ken Doherty.